If you want to make homemade baby food. But you aren’t quite sure how to properly store it, you will need to know the basics before even making the food. You don’t want the food to spoil after it has been made, so check out the tips to properly storing the food you have whipped up for your little one.

Ice Cube Tray – Freezer Bag Method

With the ice cube or freezer bag method of freezing baby food you will need:

Ice cube trays
Freezer bags
Plastic wrap

TIPS:

Thoroughly wash the trays before use

Advantages:

Each cube is approximately 1ounce, which allows you to easily measure your child’s food.
Ice cube trays are cheap.
Since you only use a cube or two of food at a time, waste is minimal.
You can make several trays of food at once.

Directions:

Spoon pureed foods into the cubes and freeze. When frozen, pop the food cubes as needed. If you made large batches, pop out the food and store them in freezer bags. Be sure to label the bags with the type of food and the date the foods were frozen. Most foods can keep for a month in this manner.

Storing Homemade Baby Food in the Refrigerator

With this method, you will need:

Individual serving containers with lids

TIPS:

Never feed your baby directly from a container and then re-store that container.
Food only keeps for three days in this method.

Advantages:

It’s the easiest method for storing, but the hardest in that you have to make food often.

Directions:

Mash and mix the food as you would, then portion it in containers. Label with the food type, date and time, and place toward the back of the refrigerator.

Reheating food:

Allow frozen food to thaw in the refrigerator.
You should try not to microwave the baby food as this will cause pockets of hot food that can burn baby’s mouth.
If you must microwave the food, stir it thoroughly and let stand at least one minute before feeding it to baby. Test with your finger to make sure it isn’t too warm.
For best reheating, allow to sit the refrigerator for at least two hours (if frozen) then place in a sauce pan of hot water for three minutes. Stir and serve.

Other tips to remember:

Never freeze anything in glass jars. The glass can and will crack, contaminating food. This even goes for store bought baby food.
You can reuse some plastic containers and freeze them, as well.
Do not reheat food in plastic containers, as this can melt the containers.
Do not re-freeze completely thawed food.